Easy evening meal

Tonight I tried a variation on my sister's low carb standby, baked chicken with mozzarella and yummy veg. As this is to feed a non-Atkins partner, I particularly liked the fact that you don't miss a starch when making this and it's delicious. While it takes a little while to cook, it's not particularly labour intensive and you can vary it depending on what you have in the cupboard - I'm sure this would be just as nice with a root veg and goat's cheese mash, for example, and it works with or without the olives, jalapenos, coriander and mushrooms. You could substitute the stir fried savoy cabbage with nutmeg and mustard seeds for steamed asparagus and kale, too.

To serve two

For the chicken:

1/2 can tinned tomatoes
Squirt tom puree
4 spring onions or half an onion, chopped medium fine
2 cloves garlic
4 mushrooms or 2 tbsps black olives or 2 tbsps chopped pickled jalapenos (depending on taste)
2 chicken breasts
1 ball mozzarella cheese
Bunch coriander (optional)

Saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until smelling nice and softened. Add mushrooms at this point if using and fry until golden brown. Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree, season to taste with herbs, salt and pepper; allow to simmer down to a sludgy paste. Take your chicken breasts and place in an ovenproof dish; stab with a big knife to make loose slits, spoon over the tomato mix (add in your olives/jalapenos/both at this point on top, if using - nice with all three optional additions); then slice the mozzarella ball into six and put three slices on each tomato mix covered breast. Bake at GM 5 for about 40 mins.

For the cabbage:

6 leaves savoy cabbage
2 oz butter
Splash olive oil
1/2 fresh nutmeg, grated
Tsp black mustard seeds or caraway seeds

When the chicken has 15 mins to go, melt the butter in the pan over a low heat. Add the oil to stop it burning. Toast the spices for a minute or two, then add the leaves, chopped into long shreds. Stir gently once in a while for 10 - 15 mins, or til cooked.

Meanwhile... steam enough broccoli per head to make up a portion each.

Serve each breast with cabbage on the side and broccoli on the plate with leftover tomato sauce from the chicken cooking dish.

Yum!

Scratch mid week meal

I really, really couldn't be bothered to go to the supermarket in the snow this evening. That and the fact that I had loads of root vegetables left from Sunday's feast and thanks to some decent advice in cookery books, a reasonable store cupboard, means that a really good midweek supper is possible in about half an hour. However you do have to be either a) organised enough to make and freeze your own meatballs (I mean, really) or b) a bit of an Ikea addict and have the habit of picking up a packet of their lovely frozen swedish ones whenever you need some new glassware. The latter is me. Especially given my frequent glass smashing habit.

So I started the meatballs first. 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine *thank you God for food processors*, cooked til soft in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add your meatballs dependent on appetite of hungry man. Then I added half a glass of rose that happened to be hanging around in the fridge, a carton of chopped Italian tomatoes,a slug of tasbasco and a small glug of balsamic vinegar. Seasoned well and cooked over a medium to low heat for 25 minutes cooks the meatballs through and reduces off some of the sauce.

In the meantime, I chopped two large carrots, a palm sized piece of celeriac and the same size of swede to 1 cm dice and boiled til slightly soft - about ten minutes. This then goes in the food processor with some butter and quite a bit of goat's cheese, diced quite finely but not quite to a puree and again seasoned well. All the veg is organic and British (for about 5p more a kilo than imported and non-organic - well worth it).

It's now sat on top of the stove awaiting a last reheat when J comes home, smelling lovely and having had a sneaky mouthful, tasting pretty good too.

Update: That was amazing. The root veg mash was creamy with the goat's cheese (I have a feeling it was better reheated, giving a chance for the cheese to melt in and cook slightly) and a little bit sweet, making it the perfect companion with the sweetish tomato sauce, just slightly acidic with the balsamic. I'm definitely making this again.

There's a reason they tell you to chill...

I went for the first run tonight in over a year - managing all of ten minutes in one go before having to walk. From tiny acorns, though, oaks grow, so I hope this tiny acorn makes its way back into the habit I used to love so much (and do something about my shape!)

To celebrate getting back on the exercise wagon, I tried to make Nigel Slater's chicken liver pate this evening, along with homemade bread. Both are pretty simple: the pate is chicken livers (about 400g, soaked in milk for half-hour before using) panfried in about 70g of butter till pale gold, then blended with another 40g butter, 90ml whipping cream and some salt and pepper. Burn off the juices from the frying pan with a good glug of brandy, then add this to the mixture. Strain through a sieve into a bowl and chill for 30 mins - then cover in melted butter (taking the froth off first) and spoon over the bowlful of pate, which by now should be looking creamy and pinky and delicious. Wait at least three hours...

The bread is equally easy - 500g of strong white flour mixed with 700ml water and a yeast sachet and 10g of salt; mix, knead for ten mins, leave to rise for an hour, knead for five mins, leave to rise for another hour on a floured baking tray, then bake at GM9 for around 10 mins then turn down to GM7 and bake for another 30 mins or so, 'til when you tap on the bottom, it sounds hollow.

My mistake tonight was too much haste. I took the bread out of the oven 5 - 10 minutes too soon (so is heavy, doughy and thick) and rushed the pate out of the fridge after two hours. The resultant pink goo tasted ok (even if the bread didn't) but just goes to show too much anticipation shouldn't lead to a lack of patience. This is one meal that if I'd waited another hour or so, would have been perfect. Next time I'll wait.